Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Fine Jelly of Seville Oranges
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Use 18 full‑size Seville oranges and 1½ pint of water.
Remove the rinds in quarters from ten oranges, cut them into thick slices, and add them with all the pips to the water.
Halve the remaining eight oranges without paring, squeeze their juice and pips (but not the pulp) into the sliced oranges, and place the mixture in an enamelled stewpan that is not more than two‑thirds full.
Make the jelly
Heat and boil gently for 20 to 30 minutes, then strain the juice through a large square of muslin folded in four (or first through a very thin clean cloth, then through the muslin).
Boil the strained juice quickly for five minutes.
For each pound of juice, stir in 14 ounces of highly refined sugar, broken small or roughly powdered, and continue boiling a few minutes until the preserve jellies easily and firmly.
Set
Let the preserve cool until it sets firmly.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Seville oranges
- Provide the pectin and tart acidity that let the preserve set and taste bright.
- Pips (in the method)
- Release natural pectin into the cooking liquid, helping the juice gel.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and, with pectin and acid, helps it set into a firm jelly.
- Water (in the method)
- Extracts flavour and pectin from the fruit during gentle simmering.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar until it jellies. Sugar must be added to juice that has already been concentrated, then boiled only until it sheets or jellies. Overboiling can make the set too stiff, while underboiling leaves it runny because pectin and acid have not formed a firm gel.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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